"Wasting" water with large tanks

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At my old place, during summer I used the water for the garden or to spray/keep moisture in the shop where the antique boats were stored. During winter I used the water to flood the practice hockey rink. I have since moved houses and converted to saltwater. Most of it goes right down the drain now. Since converting, my WC schedule went from 50% weekly to 20% biweekly.
 
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Hello; I keep a bucket in my bathtub and collect the tap water when letting it run to warm up for my shower. I also put the bucket back under the spout after the shower and let the small amount of water in the pipes drain into it. Only a gallon or so at each shower but over time it adds up. Since it is clean water I empty the bucket into my washing machine.
I run a dehumidifier in the cold months after I close up the house to reduce humidity indoors. I also pour this water into the washing machine.
 
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Rain water would be another thing to consider. I know you said high desert so I'm not sure how viable that would be.

Have you looked into plant filtration, putting plants like pothos up top, & nitrate filters? Your going to need wc's of course, but maybe extend your intervals.

I would focus on getting really efficient with water changes.

This is the whole reason I got out of sw tanks. They may have improved but my old rodi unit wasted like 5g to get 1g of purified water. It bugged me too bad to continue on with it.
 
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I feel wasteful now. My water change water goes into the yard, but I don’t save any water for toilets or anything else.
I did fill a bottle with sand and place it in the toilet tanks years ago.
So at least I’m saving 20 oz of water every time I flush. I figured for the last 15 years that’s got to add up right?
 
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PYRU said:
Rain water would be another thing to consider. I know you said high desert so I'm not sure how viable that would be.

Have you looked into plant filtration, putting plants like pothos up top, & nitrate filters? Your going to need wc's of course, but maybe extend your intervals.

I would focus on getting really efficient with water changes.

This is the whole reason I got out of sw tanks. They may have improved but my old rodi unit wasted like 5g to get 1g of purified water. It bugged me too bad to continue on with it.
Click to expand...
Extend the waste line to the yard, get a better RO unit. I think mines 3:1 (still not the best)
 
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magpie said:
Please don't make too much fun of me as I have been mulling this around for awhile in my head and it's a legit concern of mine.

I moved a year ago and my initial plan was to get a larger sized tank, 180+ gallons. But we moved to the high desert and it is just more apparent here that water is a resource that everyone tends to be wasteful with. It's not an indefinite thing. Hell, I don't even have kids but it's giving me some pause to consider even just a 50% WC (and I used to do 75% in my 65 gallon) would be dumping 100 gallons of water down the drain a week.

How do you all deal with this? Does it even cross your mind? Does anyone here save the water from changes to do anything else like water for landscaping? I know you can't potentially drink it but...

I can keep smaller tanks of course (currently love my little 20 long) but the fish I covet most (LJ bichirs, larger cichlids) need larger tanks for life.

OK, opening myself up here for all of the hippie / left wing comments.

Thanks for any thoughtful insight.
Click to expand...
Old tank water is great for watering plants
 
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My tank water goes right out the window and into my garden. My roses are very happy. Haha.
I also water all house plants with tank water.

Never thought to use it to flush toilets.

I think come summer I might consider using 55gal barrels to hold water for watering plants. Then I could water more of my gardens with tank water. Right now I can only reach the plants along the sides of the house. And then my pond waters the garden around it and my plants along the garage.

I’ve never thought of water changes as being wasteful. I have a well and figure all water ends up back out there after filtering through the ground, so.....
Even what little water that goes down the drain just goes through the septic tank and back out into the field.

Now I’d feel differently if water was regularly hard to come by. (Droughts, water restrictions, ect.)
 
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My house is supplied by a rainwater tank, but we also get 4+ feet of rain per year so not really short on water except over the summer.

When it's been dry for a while I just plug a hose from my FX5 into my irrigation system and let that water my plants. Otherwise fill up buckets and run around dumping them in trees in the orchard.

When it's not dry, I just throw the hose out the door.
 
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